The marching band is fresh off of winning gold once again this year at the ISMAA competition in Crown Point, achieving 4 other awards to go along with the shiny medal. This marks the third consecutive year that they’ve come out on top.
The Band-of-Pirates also received a Visual Distinction Award, given for the design of the formations, body movement, color guard and design elements.
After the competition, Band teacher Mark Danielson said, “We couldn’t be more proud of how the students behaved, how they looked and how supportive they were to all of the other groups.
Today was a great day to be a Pirate!”
There was much anticipation to obtain a gold medal for the third year in a row. While the hope and expectations for the marching band continued to rise, so did the pressure to exceed those expectations.
“There is a little more pressure this year,” said Junior Joshua Nicholes, one of this year’s drum majors. “The last two years were pretty good, so we’re gonna have to put on our big boy and big girl shoes and really try to get it again this year because it’s a little rough right now.”
In order to boost their chance of winning gold again, the band went through various practice routines, ranging from stretches to time management. They practiced certain techniques indoors and outdoors.
“We start inside with training for music and everything,” Nicholes said. “Then we go outside, stretch, get in our ranks, and practice the whole show, music and everything. Then we practice our song and break off to prepare for the game and grab our stuff.”
The drum major is essentially the leader of the marching band. Their job is to conduct and lead the rest of the band. They start and maintain tempo and work with other drum majors, commanding the rest of the band to play at their best.
“We’re the ones that start the stretches and do them at the same time,” said Senior Jacob Dulla, another drum major. “We’re kind of the versatile role within the band.”
Since drum majors have a big role to play within the band, there’s also a decent amount of challenge that comes with it. Being the conductors in the band, you have to set an example for the other band members, which doesn’t always come easy.
“The biggest challenge is getting them to actually listen to you or even watch you,” Dulla said. “Even if they’re hearing me, they may not watch or pay attention.”
Despite all of the challenges presented, the marching band prevailed and won gold once again, marking this their 3rd consecutive gold medal! Much effort was put in to achieve victory, and the win at ISSMA last year surely acted as fuel to come out on top.
“The last time we won was at ISSMA, and it was a great experience,” Nicholes said. We worked really hard that year, practicing all the time, and yeah it just feels good to win gold. It felt like we won the NBA Championship.”
